I used the Frixion erasable heart stamp to create a water intake tracker. It ended up taking up more space than I thought it would – I probably wouldn’t do this again and would use a weekly hydrate sticker instead as they look neater and don’t take up as much room.

Officeworks Keji brand correction tape (pack of 2 for just $1 and actually works really well!)

Pros of planning using a weekly notepad

Not as bulky as a weekly planner as notepads tend to only have 52 sheets rather than 100 pages plus the weight of binding – it was much easier to just have this on my desk. If you’re someone that takes your planner with you everywhere (since I work a full time day job I keep mine on my desk and take a photo of it), but by using a notepad I could’ve just torn it off – very portable

If you prefer to fold planners back on themselves, you have to flip back and forth as most planner’s have the weekly spread extending over 2 pages

Most notepads are landscape page orientation which tends to mean more functional space i.e. the columns aren’t as narrow as a 1 page portrait orientation planner

Most weekly planning notepads are undated so you can start using them anytime

If you don’t use a planner very often, or only need one when you have a very busy week e.g. in the lead up to exam time, a weekly planner notepad is a much more affordable option

Cons of planning using a weekly notepad

This notepad was A4 size – it is a large page size but it was just the right amount of space (a little bit more would’ve been great) – most notepads come in A5 size (half A4 letter size) as they’re cheaper to manufacture, but you’ll probably find yourself running out of space

Most weekly notepads come in the same generic weekly layout (which was why I got so excited when I saw this one!)

I didn’t post more than 3 times on the blog that week, if I’d posted more I wouldn’t have had enough planning space

Would I use this layout again?

I don’t tend to go for vertical planners as the columns are too narrow, however this week’s wasn’t too bad. A few more spaces for tasks for each day would’ve be ideal as I did run out of room.

I definitely liked color coding with highlighters this week. They stand out more than colored pens and I can use yellow and actually see the ink! I should definitely do more highlighting in future weekly spreads!

No stickers this week but I actually don’t mind not using stickers every week. I could’ve made some blogging workflow stickers to save room in the daily planning space and used icon stickers for recurring tasks such as file cleanings and book-keeping (that unfortunately I have to do more often than I would like!)

I liked have a wider sidebar in the weekly spread than normal, but the hydrate tracker could’ve taken up less room and I did have to re-write the things I needed to buy out again on a shopping list so that part of the page ended up being a bit of dead space. If I wasn’t currently planning a trip to Melbourne at the end of the year and Europe next year (will be my first time!!!) then I wouldn’t have filled up the notepad as much.

I’m really enjoying trying a different planner each week as I can choose a different layout to suit my needs rather than getting bored using the same weekly layout every week.

If I used this notepad again I’d change the way I used it. I’d put the meal planning in the days of the week section and instead of writing ‘leftovers’ I’d just write’L’ to save space. I’d also use a social media routine sidebar sticker and hydrate tracker sticker (some of my favorite functional stickers!) that way I’d have more room to put tasks in the sidebar.

Welcome

Welcome to All About Planners! I’m Rachael, a 20-something Aussie addicted to graphic design and all things planning. On the blog you’ll find more than 200 planner reviews as well as planning tips and some of my past weekly spreads.

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